Slashdot Mirror
Two Arrests In Denmark For Spreading Information About Popcorn Time
An anonymous reader writes: You may recall Popcorn Time, the software that integrated torrents with a streaming media player. It fell afoul of the law quite quickly, but survived and stabilized. Now, out of Denmark comes news that two men operating websites related to Popcorn Time have been arrested, and their sites have been shut down. It's notable because the sites were informational resources, explaining how to use the software. They did not link to any copyright-infringing material, they were not involved with development of Popcorn Time or any of its forks, and they didn't host the software. "Both men stand accused of distributing knowledge and guides on how to obtain illegal content online and are reported to have confessed."
NEVER confess to anything! All they've done is to hang themselves. Gubbermint says, "We don't like what you're doing." Your response? Are you really going to tell gubbermint, "Oh, I'm so sorry - please, just lock me away for a few decades!"
The better response is, "Prove your case, assholes!"
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Next, we should go after the language teachers because they facilitate this illegal behavior by teaching people how to read and write. If that doesn't make sense, then you are much smarter than these authority figures because that has about as much to do with committing a crime as what these people have done.
I didnt know about it before and now I do. Thanks sweden. Now sue yourselves.
Against this:
"Both men stand accused of distributing knowledge and guides on how to obtain illegal content online and are reported to have confessed."
?
If there is, then they are probably in violation. But aren't there other resources on how to do illegal things that don't get shut down? Plenty of folks have written about how to get onto Silk Road and buy drugs and yet we haven't seen those sites disappear... curious. Just goes to show they don't care about whether its illegal or not, only if it *slightly* affects their bottom line. But we all knew that already, didn't we?
Popcorn Time steals from the lives of the people who created this content. Those who aid and abet thieves should get put away. I realize this forum exists solely to promote ripping off GoT episodes, but, come ON. Wake up people.
You just provided information regarding the types of shows available on Popcorn Time. Now they are going to arrest you too.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
So what's the lawful way to view, say, the film Song of the South or the TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea? I've never tried Popcorn Time, but I know these works tend to be missing from lawful streaming services' libraries. If there is none, how does this "dog in the manger" mentality "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts", as one country's constitution puts it?
That what they were distributing was information on how to break the law is wholly irrelevant to the subject at hand, which is that they were sill ultimately arrested for distributing knowledge... effectively making legislating what people are allowed to even *THINK* about.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Prosecuted for the distribution of knowledge? I thought the Danes would be better than that....
These arrests seem counterproductive. I was not aware of Popcorntime at all, but with this media coverage, am now more inclined to take a look at it. The media companies need to rethink their strategy. These services become more popular when they get them in the public eye (Napster, Limewire, Gnutella, PirateBay, etc.)
Crime shows and heist films are educating bank robbers and future murderers, teaching them how to plan bank robberies and how to hide murders. They even show the process of how the police typically catch other bank robbers and murderers, further educating them on how to avoid police detection. The entire cast of CSI needs to report to the local precinct ASAP.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
May as well dismantle libraries next. They are chock full of information that could be used to subvert the state. The last thing government wants is a well-educated populace.
Have gnu, will travel.
Bullocks.
And that's not "unhealthy" or "libertarian-leaning" or anything. That's freedom of thought, speech, and press, plain and simple. And the concept predates the mass adoption of the internet by decades.
Remember dead-tree bookstores? In the mid-90s, you could walk into pretty much any Barnes & Nobles, find on the shelves, and buy a copy of "The Anarchist Cookbook", Abby Hoffman's "Steal This Book", any number of the Hayduke "Getting Even" books, PIHKAL, TIHKAL, and occasionally they would even have "The Poor Man's James Bond". Any and all of those contain instructions on howto do things that were and are illegal. Some of them actively encourage those actions. And that's in a mainstream chain book store that used to be in every town of any significant population. If you checked out independent "alternative" bookstores or bookstores aimed at activist communities in large cities you'd find stuff even more colorful. And it's all 100% legal, because we punish people for ACTIONS, not writings or thoughts. And there's absolutely no reason whatsoever for that to be different because computers.
Imagine all the people...
What's not valid about your analogy is that peer-to-peer video sharing can be perfectly legal, whereas murder never is. What Popcorn Time needs is a tracker dedicated to fully legal videos -- Max Fleischer out-of-copyright cartoons, the Blender Foundation animations, how-tos on video production etc. P2P has legitimate non-infringing uses, and there should be people focusing on doing that. Consider the amount of genuinely free stuff on PirateBay etc. It's not a notable proportion of the P2P traffic, but it still would be enough to merit its own tracker.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Well said.
I also have a huge issue with Beerdood's statement that, "Maybe it's time to re-think your principles and realize that "information" that supports or promotes illegal activity should be taken down, regardless of how severe the crime is". Fuck that.
Laws change, and that change often comes through education of others. Promoting women's suffrage in the 1800's should not be illegal. Documenting how a Jewish person might escape Germany in 1945 should not be illegal. I'm not surprised that those in power want it to be illegal to simply document how to do something that might have an impact on their bottom line and may violate copyright laws in some (ok, most) jurisdictions, but we should not consider that acceptable. One may argue otherwise, but I feel this would fall directly under Amendment I of the US Bill of Rights (and yes, I realize this is not taking place in the US, but these are an enumeration of what many believe to be unalienable rights).
They're not forcing anyone to read those pages; They're not distributing copyrighted works, or even links to copyrighted works; The wrong parties are being sought out there - those that are violating the copyrights should be the targets. The problem with that is that Beerdood would likely be charged, just as would most of the RIAA, MPAA, the lawyers, and most of society as well.
The majority of cars and roads are used for the illegal activities of speeding, illegal lane changes, running red lights, drunk driving, and a host of other crimes. Roads and cars should be banned.
Copyright is completely insane anyway, and this has desensitized many people from breaking it at will when they can. We no longer have sane terms like 14 years after first publication (which iirc was the original term in US before all the extensions to make it a multi-generational cash cow). If that was still the case, then piracy would perhaps have not taken off in such a big way in the first place, because the public would be more supportive of creators getting reimbursed for their content.
However, with the current BS terms, it is 'illegal' to watch ancient movies or cartoons (hello Disney!) or listen to decades-old songs (Sonny Bono act) without paying for the privilege. Even most individual countries cannot set terms as they wish thanks to the Berne convention which imposes a *minimum* of 50 years. So, the public starts to pirate due to this perceived unfairness; which is their only response since the politicians are bought & paid for by the entertainment industry.
As for 'ripping off GoT episodes', those are fairly recent and shouldn't be as justified - but the problem is that when everyone is accustomed to piracy due to eternal copyrights; then people no longer distinguish carefully about newer or older works.